


set alight

by hirakumi



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, daemon AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-31
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-10-01 00:43:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17234219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hirakumi/pseuds/hirakumi
Summary: [Re-upload.] Written pre-season 4. Daemon AU. "You'll need to give her a name," he says, nodding at the tiny mouse in his hands.





	set alight

Shiro dies the first time they meet face to face.

It's quick and he likes to think it's painless. The look on his face when he sees him, the shock, the confusion all gone in a matter of seconds when the explosion tears through him.

Keith holds him, carries him out like he thinks they'll make it to the ship in time, even though they both know the truth. Liam is flying frantically overhead. His daemon shivers on his shoulder. Still wet and pink looking, like a newborn.

He's given a proper burial. A send off fit for the hero they've always known him for. They're all huddled together watching Shiro's body--the real Shiro turn to ash, while he's standing a little ways away from the group. His daemon blinking sleepily in the palm of his hands. They don't notice him turn and walk back to the ship.

 

The door opens and Keith is standing there.

"You'll need to give her a name," he says, nodding at the tiny mouse in his hands.

He turns to leave but not before glancing back. "And you'll need a new name too."

For the first time in his life he's at a loss for what to do, to say, to act.

 

He names her Sayuri because she looks like a little petal in his hands.

She names him Kuron after he tells her his story.

 

Sayuri shifts during a council meeting, much to the surprise of him and everyone else. Turning from her mouse form to a rabbit. Though only the paladins are visibly surprised. Their respective daemons barely containing their shock. Liam flaps his wings like he's upset.

 

After the meeting adjourns, Pidge sidles up to him. Piper on her heels as a small dog, shifting to sit on her shoulder as a squirrel.

She swings her feet over the balcony. "My dad and Matt always said you'd know when your daemon settled. But it hasn't happened to me yet."

Kuron nods, thinks back to when Fumiko had settled. In a field exam, smoke billowing out from all corners, how he'd shifted into the form of a wolf and never shifted back. How right it'd felt when it happened. He looks back at Sayuri chasing Piper down as a cat.

 

Coran dies in his arms. He's holding onto him, watching his life slip away.

"Hold on," he says.

Coran shakes his head, presses his hand over Kuron's. "Listen, no matter what anyone says--you belong here."

Sayuri's curled up in a corner, shivering.

 

Keith is livid when Kuron tells them what happened.

"Shiro would've never let that happen," he says and turns on his heels to leave.

He starts to go after him when Lance steps up.

"I'll talk to him," he says.

He trails after Keith, Esperanza waddling behind him.

 

He finds Allura crying in the control room, lights dim. Sayuri pads toward her, puts her small paw on her lap. She reaches out towards her but stops when Sayuri bristles.

She rubs her eyes. “Kuron,” she starts but the words die in her throat when she sees the look on his face.

It’s odd hearing his name being spoken from someone other than him and Sayuri. Allura picks herself up. “I apologize.”

“Princess.”

It sounds wrong on his lips. Because he’s not Shiro, never has been and the things--the people he remembers and loves so much aren’t his at all. Sayuri whimpers, sensitive to his emotion.

"That's not it," she says. "Well, not all of it at least. I feel like something's happening. Something that will change things."

 

The next day, Red refuses Lance.

It doesn't matter who sits in Red's cockpit, the lights remain dim. Controls stiff to the touch.

"C'mon girl," Keith whispers, forehead touching the cool metal. "What's wrong?"

But Red is silent and it hurts. It hurts to see Keith like that, it hurts to see the team fall apart like that, when he can do nothing but watch from the sidelines.

Red dies and the dream of Voltron dies with her.

 

He's frowning, rocking back on his heels as Allura shows him the controls to the castle. Esperanza makes a pained noise beside him as if channeling his frustration. Kuron touches his shoulder and Lance leans into it.

"Y'know," he says soft so that Allura can't hear. "I trust you.”

“We all do,” Lance continues later on. “Keith wanted to drop you off somewhere but we--we stopped him. It’s something Zarkon would do and we couldn’t let him do that.”

_Couldn’t let him become that._

 

Keith and Kuron get into an argument. It happens after Coran's death and over something, when pressed, neither can remember.

Their daemons hiss and screech at each other. Liam drops down from Keith's shoulder, puffs himself up against Sayuri. Sayuri shifts, each time getting larger and more formidable.

She's a lion, large and a deep purple colour when she raises her paw and slams down against the spot where just seconds ago Liam was. He grabs her before she can reach Keith.

 

He doesn't think much about it when he hops into Red, just about getting to his friends in time. Lance steadies the castle, getting as close as he can without being noticed. He’s a natural at it now, and even Allura is surprised at how quickly he’s taken to it. It never really registers to him that Sayuri’s curled up on his lap, looking braver and more focused than he’s ever seen her.

 

He meets them on the ground, Sayuri walking proud and tall beside him.

Keith looks down at Sayuri, then back at Kuron. His lips quirk up into a small smile and Liam makes a delighted noise on his shoulders. “She looks beautiful.”

Sayuri practically glows at the compliment. She raises her head and flicks her tail.

“Careful,” he says. “You’ll give her a big head.”

 

When they’re alone, Kuron buries his hand in Sayuri’s fur. Marvelling at how different it feels from Fumiko’s, it doesn’t feel as soft but he likes it. He loves everything about her, from the black fur that sometimes reflects purple when the light hits it a certain way, her long bushy tail that ends with just a hint of white. That big inquisitive look she gets now with everything.

 

He stares out at the long horizon that he remembers so vividly but now knows it as nothing more than a fabrication. Sayuri's watching, apparently fascinated by the sunset. Her ears perk up.

"I always knew," Keith says.

He shakes his head. "Of course you did.”

He shrugs and Liam squawks from his place on Keith's shoulders. "I just always knew."


End file.
